POET Technologies Inc of San Jose, CA, USA — which has developed the proprietary planar optoelectronic technology (POET) platform for monolithic fabrication of integrated III-V-based electronic and optical devices on a single semiconductor wafer — has announced a research and development initiative for future generations of smart pixels and other applications in association with the Institute of Micro Electronics Engineering (IMRE), a part of the Singapore-based Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR).
Jointly funded by POET and IMRE, the 18-month project is designed in part to adapt the POET platform to potential applications in smart pixel technology for the burgeoning augmented reality market.
Additional aspects of the initiative include enhancing POET's gallium arsenide (GaAs) process technology platform, as well as R&D on novel gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial growth technologies to potentially support integrated optoelectronic light engines for the smart lighting market.
With this initiative, POET expects to expand its intellectual property (IP) portfolio and roadmap, and to enrich its III-V applications suite. The firm will have joint ownership of any developed IP with IMRE, with a right of first refusal related to exclusive rights to any developed IP.
"We are gratified to be partnering with an esteemed global leader like IMRE in advancing our disruptive and enabling process technology," says POET's CEO Dr Suresh Venkatesan. "The unique aspect of the POET process platform is its versatility in supporting multiple applications," he adds. "This joint initiative is also significant as a great stride toward developing alternate applications and developing the POET roadmap beyond the inaugural addressable market of data communications."
